Preliminary - Stage 6

2 Unit Biology

8.4 - Life on Earth:

Prerequisite Knowledge:
Discuss evidence that present-day organisms have developed from different
organisms in the distant past:
- Comparison of the physiology of fossils to present day organisms have showed
relationships between the organisms
- The examination of the DNA structure of organisms has shown the development
from past organisms.

Describe the conditions under which fossils form:

- Fossils are any remains of past life found in rocks of different ages
- Fossilisation is a rare event
- For fossilisation to occur, the following events must happen:
Quick burial in soil, sand or mud, or in tree sap or ice
Prevent decay
Organism lies undisturbed
- Complete fossils are only very rarely found
- Usually, only the hard parts, such as teeth and bones, are found as fossils
- Footprints, trails, burrows and even animal poo (coprolites) are fossils
- Fossils are only found in sedimentary rocks

Relate the fossil record to the age of the Earth and the time over which life
has been evolving:
- The study of fossils shows that there has been a great diversity of living
organisms since the Precambrian times
- The types and abundance of organisms have changed over long periods of times
- Using the fossil record and knowledge of present day diversity, the evolutionary
pathways of organisms can be traced back
- If we compare present-day organisms with those from the fossil record, we can
see a history of change
- An example is the evolution of the horse, whose fossil record has been excellent

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1. Analysis of the oldest sedimentary rocks provides evidence for the origin
of life:
Identify the relationship between the conditions on early Earth and the
origin of organic molecules:
- Conditions of early Earth:
Massive oceans existed
Only small landmasses above the surface of the water
No ozone layer
Large amounts of radiation reached the Earth
No free oxygen in the air
Large amounts of volcanic activity; heat, ash, dust and gases into atmosphere
Violent electric storms common
Atmosphere contained some water vapour (H2O), hydrogen (H2), hydrogen
cyanide (HCN), a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen (N2), possibly
ammonia (NH3) and methane (CH4).
- The chemicals of life are contained within the following basic organic compounds:
water, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.
- These compounds are made up of hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), carbon (C), nitrogen
(N) and some other common elements.
- As you can see, the elements needed to create the basic organic compounds were
already present in the atmosphere; i.e., H, O, C and N were already there.
- The lack of an ozone layer, the frequent violent electric storms, and the volcanic
activity of early Earth could have provided the energy for molecules to be formed.

Discuss the implications of the existence of organic molecules in the cosmos

for the origin of life on Earth:
- For life to have originated, the following events need to have happened:
The required chemicals need to have been formed
These chemicals need to have come together in a self-replicating body
This body would need to have a form of protection for its contents
It had to be able to use an energy source to replicate itself
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- The first step needed for life to be formed would be that the organic molecules
needed for life would have to be present
- These organic molecules could have been formed here on Earth, or been sent to
Earth from outer space (the cosmos)

Describe two scientific theories relating to the evolution of the chemicals of

life and discuss their significance in understanding our origin of life:
- Theory 1: The chemicals for life came from outer space:
Before an atmosphere was formed, nothing stopped meteorites hitting the
Earth
Scientists believe Earth was heavily bombarded with meteorites during
formation
Certain types of meteorites, called carbonaceous chondrites, have been found,
which contain organic molecules, like amino acids
This provided evidence of organic molecules somewhere else in the universe
This means that the chemicals for life could have come from outer space
- Theory 2: The chemicals for life were formed on Earth:
Haldane and Oparin suggested that early Earth contained all the basic
chemical components necessary for life
They hypothesised that complex organic molecules, like nucleic acids and
carbohydrates, could have been created using inorganic molecules through
slow reactions using energy from lightning or UV rays.
These complex organic molecules could have collected together on the surface
of the oceans, forming a soup, which later could have formed cells
The theory was untested until the 1950s, when Urey and Miller tested it in the
lab

Discuss the significance of the Urey and Miller experiment in the debate on
the composition of the early atmosphere:
- Urey and Miller performed the following experiment to prove Haldane and
Oparins theory:
A closed system was set up and powerful electrical sparks were passed
through a chamber containing ammonia, hydrogen, and methane.
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These chemicals were used because the scientists wanted to recreate the
atmosphere of early Earth.
Steam was recycled and passed through the chemicals
After a week, the steam collected was red and turbid. When this water was
tested, it was found to contain some amino acids.
-

This experiment proved that, if early Earth did contain those chemicals, life could
have formed from inorganic molecules.

Identify changes in technology that have assisted in the development of an

increased understanding of the origin of life and evolution of living things:
- The Urey/Miller experiment has been improved using modern technology
- UV radiation and carbon dioxide is used instead of electricity and ammonia and
methane, to make the conditions in the closed chamber more like that of early
Earth.
- Advances in technology that has increased our knowledge of the origin of life and
evolution are the changes in chemical analysis, biochemistry and molecular
biology.
- Other technological advances:
Technology

Uses

Microscope

Enabled the discovery or micro-organisms

Radiometric Dating

Can assign absolute dates to rocks/fossils

Has established age of the Earth
as 4.5 billion years old

Electron Microscopy

Remains of microbes and mineral nature of

rocks can be studied in detail

Gas and Liquid Chromatography

Enabled the comparisons between ancient

Radioactive Tracing

organic material and biological material

Amino Acid and Nucleotide

today

Sequencing
Spectrophotometry

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Gather information from secondary sources to describe the experiments of

Urey and Miller and use the available evidence to analyse the:
Reason for the experiment:
-

To test the hypothesis of Haldane and Oparin

i.e. organic molecules could have been created on the surface of early
Earth, from inorganic molecules using energy from UV rays and lightning

Result for their experiment:

-

After a week of electrical discharge and recycling steam through their

apparatus, they analysed the condensed liquid

It was found to contain amino acids, the building blocks of proteins

Importance of their experiment in illustrating the nature and practice of science:

-

It showed that hypotheses and theories are welcomed in science, but are
only accepted when backed up with scientific proof, that is, experiments.

Contribution to hypotheses about the origin of life:

-

The results supported Haldane and Oparins theory that early Earth
contained the basic chemical components for life

It proved that complex organic molecules can be produced from basic

chemical components or inorganic molecules

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2. The fossil record provides information about the subsequent evolution

of living things:
Identify the major stages in the evolution of living things, including the
formation of:
Organic molecules
-

The first stage of the evolution of life was the creation of organic
molecules, either through synthesis from inorganic molecules, or from
outer space

These organic molecules began to clump together in a soup

Membranes
-

A membrane had to be developed to protect the internal environment of

the large organic molecule

The internal environment, i.e. the contents began to evolve into nucleic
acids and the primitive cell could now replicate

RNA was thought to be the first genetic material

Procaryotic heterotrophic cells

-

The first and simplest types of cells, like bacteria

No membrane-bound nucleus or membrane-bound organelles

These consumed other organic molecules to provide energy (heterotrophic)

Procaryotic autotrophic cells

-

Some of the heterotrophic procaryotic cells developed pigments

These pigments allowed them to use the energy from the sun to create
food

Eucaryotic cells
-

These cells had membrane-bound nuclei and organelles

Examples include animals, fungi, plants

Colonial organisms
-

Colonial organisms are groups or colonies of similar cells, eg,

stromatolites

All the cells in the colony have the same function; no differentiation

They form when daughter cells from cell division become bound together
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Multicellular organism
-

These are groups of cells, where some cells have differing functions from
others

Each cell has its own specialised function and all cells depend on each
other

The organism functions as a coordinated whole

Describe some of the paleontological and geological evidence that suggests

when life originated on Earth
- Fossils are found in sedimentary rocks, the oldest of which are 3800 million years
old
- The earliest fossils are of 2 types:
Microfossils, these are similar to present day unicellular, anaerobic (does not
need oxygen) procaryotic organisms
Stromatolites, layered clumps or photosynthetic cyanobacteria
- Modern stromatolites are found in Western Australia, Shark Bay
- Microfossil and stromatolite fossils are found in 3 places:
3400 3500 mya rocks from Warrawoona Group, Western Australia
2800 3000 mya rocks from Fig Tree Group, South Africa
2000 mya rocks from Gunflint Chert rocks, Lake Superior, North America
- The first cells were heterotrophic, and obtained energy through consuming
compounds
- Then some cells developed pigments, which could be used to harness light energy
- This development of photosynthesis meant a reduction in the amount of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere
- Oxygen did not immediately begin to build-up in the atmosphere, but rather it was
taken up by rocks.
- Oxidised rocks can be seen in ancient banded iron formations and red bed rocks
- The fact that anaerobic cells developed first, in an anaerobic environment, says
that life could not have evolved in the presence of oxygen

Explain why the change from an anoxic to an oxic atmosphere was

significant in the evolution of living things:
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- The conditions needed for life as we know it are:

Available liquid water
Protection from ultraviolet (UV) radiation
Free oxygen in the atmosphere
- Water was already readily available; it was everywhere
- When all oxidisable rock had been saturated with oxygen, due to the increase of
photosynthetic organisms, the atmosphere began to fill with oxygen
- Firstly, the oxygen reacted with the UV radiation, and created ozone
- When enough ozone was created, it formed an ozone layer
- This protection from UV rays by the ozone layer enabled more sensitive
organisms to develop on Earth
- Oxygen began to build up and the atmosphere was changed from anoxic (no
oxygen) to oxic (has oxygen)
- The significance was that anaerobic organisms declined, and aerobic organisms
thrived
- The number of photosynthetic organisms rose sharply
- Today, anaerobic organisms only live in places of low oxygen concentration;
swamps and bogs, deep underground, etc.
- The protection provided by the ozone layer enabled organisms to live on land
- Aerobic organisms took advantage of the abundant oxygen by evolving a system
of producing energy that lies on the presence of oxygen: respiration
- The energy efficiently produced in respiration enabled organisms to increase in
size and in their complexity

Discuss the ways in which developments in scientific knowledge may

conflict with the ideas about the origins of life developed by different
cultures:
- Science: Evolution; all organisms are constantly changing, not created, but
evolved.
- Christians: They believe in Biblical creationism; all organisms created as they
are by God, no change over time

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- Chinese: Believe the first organism was Pan Ku, who evolved in a giant cosmic
egg. All elements of the universe were in the egg, all mixed. In the egg, he
separated the opposites, then 18,000 years later the egg hatched, and Pan Ku died
from the effort of creation.
- Aboriginals: Dreamtime; great supernatural beings existed in the dreamtime and
created the Earth and everything in it
- Greek: Aristotles ideas that the whole universe had a hierarchy and that it started
from rocks, up through plants and animals, to humans, and finally to God.
- Romans: Lucretius, a Roman philosopher believed there was no God, because the
universe was so imperfect. It was made of particles all squeezing together.
- As you can see, science contradicts with the belief of many people.

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3. Further developments in our knowledge of present-day organisms and

the discovery of new organisms allows for better understanding of the
origins of life and the processes involved in the evolution of living things:
Describe technological advances that have increased our knowledge of
procaryotic organisms:
- Structural methods include differences in size and shape, general appearance; type
of structures needed for movement; absence, presence or type of cell wall; spores
and microscopic staining
- These methods are useful for classification, but do not reflect on evolution
- Two new technologies have enabled a new classification of procaryotes to emerge:
Electron microscopes: Shows the differences in the ultrastructure (fine
details of cells)
Biochemical techniques: Studies of the metabolic pathways in procaryotes
have revealed new similarities and differences. Sequencing the amino acids in
the proteins and the nucleotides in the DNA and RNA is now possible. These
studies are based on the concept that the smaller the difference in the
sequence of two organisms, the closer related they are.

Describe the main features of the environment occupied by one of the

following and identify the role of this organism in its ecosystem:
Procaryotic Cell

Environment Where Found

Role in the Ecosystem

Archaeobacteria

Hostile environments such as

Carry out inorganic reactions

salty brines (halophiles),

for chemical energy

boiling springs, ocean

hydrogen + sulfur = hydrogen

thermal vents.

sulphide + energy
carbon dioxide + hydrogen =
methane + water + energy

Eubacteria

Are widespread including all

Single-celled organisms that are

Exist as spherical, rod-

habitats: Land, freshwater,

parasitic or decomposers. They

shaped and spiral

marine and in a host. Well

play an essential role in

forms

known for the diseases many

recycling in ecosystems.

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of them cause, but many are
used in industry.

Cyanobacteria

Widespread, especially in

Photosynthetic, therefore

Including stromatolites

marine environments.

produce oxygen, use carbon

(Belongs to

Ancient forms exist in

dioxide and are the basis of

Eubacteria)

stromatolites. Some are free-

food webs. Many have nitrogen

living and some exist in

fixing abilities and so enrich

mutualistic association with

soil where they live. They are

fungi in lichens.

key components in plankton

Nitrogen-Fixing

Occur in nodules living

Convert nitrogen from the

Bacteria

mutualistically on the roots

atmosphere into ammonium

of legume (pea) plants. They

ions that can be converted in

are also associated with other

amino acids in plants. Enables

plants including cycads and

plants to grow in low-nitrogen

water ferns. Some types are

soils. In the long-term they

found free living in the soil.

enrich soils with nitrogen

Methanogens

Anaerobic conditions such as

Uses hydrogen, or hydrogen-

(Belongs to

the sediment at the bottom of

rich compounds and carbon-

Archaeobacteria)

lakes and ponds, sewerage

dioxide to produce energy and

lagoons and in the intestinal

release methane as waste

tracts of animals.
Deep-Sea Bacteria

The boiling undersea vents

They are the basis of food webs

Thermophiles

of volcanoes that are

in undersea vents, making use

(Belongs to

underwater

of sulfur compounds from

Archaeobacteria)

volcanoes for energy.

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Use the available evidence to outline similarities in the past and present for
one of the following: (Cyanobacteria chosen)
Past:

Present:

+ Cyanobacteria are among the most + Cyanobacteria are still common today:
abundant fossils in PRECAMBRIAN

- Damp areas, ponds, streams

ROCKS (3.5 billion years old). Some

- Warm conditions

scientists think they were the only

- Thrive in areas with dissolved

organisms present at this time. In

calcium bicarbonate

Precambrian times:

- No longer the only life form

- There was more UV radiation than + Today, most are aquatic forms, some are
today

free-living in the soil

- There was no free oxygen until the

first

cyanobacteria

- Some are marine stromatolites

developed

- Some

primitive photosynthesis

live

in

mutualistic

relationship with fungi (lichens)

- The environment would be warm and + Today stromatolites are found at Shark
damp like a mineral water spring

Bay, WA; Sea water there is really salty

+ Stromatolites (made of cyanobacteria) + They occur in those environments close

were more common than today and also
wider spread.

to limestone and low in nutrients

+ Stromatolites have also been found in:

+ Cyanobacteria; some were free-living

- Antarctica

+ In the Pilbara region, WA, layered rocks

- Hot Springs

3.5 billion years old have been found.

- High alkaline lakes

This was at North Pole Dome

- Lake Clifton WA

+ Stromatolites were found in the layered + Stromatolites are now in danger of

rocks

extinction due to rising nutrient levels

+ These were very similar to the hot-spring

stromatolites found.
+

Geologists

find

due to fertilisation. Rise in competition

+ This possibly happened in Precambrian

bacteria

in

the

superheated vents of mineral waters up to

150C

12

times

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2 Unit Biology

4. The study of present-day organisms increases our understanding of past

organisms and environments:
Explain the need for scientists to classify organisms:
- Taxonomy, the science of classifying organisms, is needed because:
It enables organisms to be DESCRIBED quickly and accurately
It makes COMMUNICATION simpler and more precise
It lets newly IDENTIFIED organisms belong to particular groups
It enables TRENDS in groups to be observed
It helps to identify relationships and establish EVOLUTIONARY pathways

Describe the selection criteria used in different classification systems and

discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each system:
- The 2 KINGDOM system, consists of PLANTS and ANIMALS:
Selection criteria:
-

PLANTS: autotrophic, no locomotion, no cell wall

ANIMALS: heterotrophic, locomotion, no cell wall

Advantages:
-

The oldest system that works well with familiar organisms

Disadvantages:
-

Some unicellular organisms possess plant and animal traits

Does not recognise differences in eucaryotic and procaryotic cells

Fungi is difficult to classify

- The 3 KINGDOM system, consists of MONERA, PLANTS and ANIMALS:

Selection criteria:
-

MONERA: procaryotic

PLANTS: eucaryotic, photosynthetic, no locomotion, cell wall

ANIMALS: eucaryotic, heterotrophic, locomotion and no cell wall

Advantages:
-

Separating the eucaryotes is useful as their structure is different

Disadvantages:
-

Some unicellular eucaryotic organisms possess animal and plant traits

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- The 5 KINGDOM system, consists of MONERA, PROTISTA, FUNGI, PLANTS

and ANIMALS:
Selection criteria:
-

MONERA: Procaryotic

PROTISTA: Eucaryotic, unicellular

FUNGI: Eucaryotic, multicellular, heterotrophic, no locomotion, cell wall

PLANTS: Eucaryotic, multicellular, autotrophic, no locomotion, cell wall

ANIMALS: Eucaryotic, multicellular, heterotrophic, locomotion

Advantages:
-

Distinguishing fungi from plants is useful, as fungi have no chlorophyll

and so are functionally different

Disadvantages;
-

Protista contains widely differing organisms and as such is a fairly

meaningless group

Explain how levels of organisation in a hierarchical system assist

classification:
- In the hierarchical system, the organisms are divided into the following groups:
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species.
- Organisms are classified into the different levels according to the features they
have.
- Different levels of similarity of difference can be reflected as you go up or down
the hierarchy. The lower down you go (from kingdom to species) the more
features the organisms have in common.
-

Levels of organisation are very useful for storing and retrieving information, as
much information is stored about an organism at each level. For example, all
organisms in the Class: mammals have milk glands.

Discuss, using examples, the impact of changes in technology on the

development and revision of biological classification systems:
- When organisms were classified just according to their external structure
(Linnaeus system) there were only 2 kingdoms: plants and animals
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- The invention of the light and electron microscopes, and the discovery of cells
and the discovery of micro-organisms increased the number of kingdoms to 5
- Advances in molecular biology and biochemistry revealed the two major groups
within the procaryotic monera: the Archaeobacteria and the Eubacteria.
- Hence the number of kingdoms has increased to 6
- The advances in molecular techniques, like DNA and amino acid sequencing have
revealed new relationships between organisms
- All these advances in technology have allowed taxonomists to continually change
and refine the current classification systems.

Describe the main features of the binomial system in naming species and
relate these to the concepts of genus and species:
- Many organisms have many common names, that vary from place to place
- To overcome this, a binomial system of naming is used to give every organism
just one name, consisting of two parts.
- This name is called the scientific name and this system was developed by
Linnaeus in the 18th Century
- In this system, an organism is given a name consisting of 2 parts.
- The first word has a capital latter and represents the GENUS of the organism
- The second word represents the SPECIES of the organism and has no capitals
- Both words are either written in italics or underlined.

Identify and discuss the difficulties experienced in classifying extinct

organisms:
- We only know of many extinct animals from their fossils
- Fossils can be difficult to classify because they are often incomplete or may not
show enough detail of the organism
- If the organism has been extinct for a very long time, there may be no other
organisms to classify it with
- Fossils can be named even if they only have a part of the fossil
- If the same organism is given 2 or more scientific names due to incomplete fossils,
the first name given is taken as the correct one.
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Explain how classification of organisms can assist in developing an

understanding of present and past life on Earth:
- Ordering: Grouping organisms together brings a sense of order to a vast range of
organisms. Classification also simplifies the description of things
- Communicating: All scientists throughout the world use the same names no
matter what language they speak; this means there is no confusion
- Relationships: Show relationships with other organisms present today. Some
show evolutionary pathways (phylogenetic)
- Conservation: Through classification and observing organisms in different
environments, we can learn about endangered species and try to save them from
extinction in the future.

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